Thursday, August 25, 2011

Monday, August 22, 2011

Shelley and I just got back from a quick climbing trip to Kananaskis. We left Thursday after work, climbed Friday at Barrier Bluffs, and Saturday we did Joy on Mt. Indefatigable. Sunday, somewhat sore and worn out from the long day on Joy, we had a leisurely breakfast and drove home.

Joy is an easy climb but a long one - about 10 pitches on the face and then three pitches or so of loose exposed ridge scrambling, followed by a long steep hike down. We had some trouble finding the right way down and ended up getting the rope back out to rappel a final cliff band. We'd done Joy before, quite a few years ago, but selective memory had edited out the ridge and descent.

It was great to get out, and the weather was beautiful as you can tell from the blue skies in the photos.

Saturday, August 13, 2011

One morning a few days ago, I found this guy in the shade on some dew soaked grass, not moving. I wasn't sure he was alive but when I carefully picked him up he grabbed onto my finger. I carried him home and set him in the sun while I ran inside for my camera. I took a few shots quickly, but the grass wasn't the best background so I picked him up to move him. He must have just been cold and was warming up now. He started to vibrate his wings, which I've read insects do to help warm up, in the same way we might do some jumping jacks. Before I had a chance to set him down for more photos he must have warmed up sufficiently and off he went. So this is the best shot I got:

There have been a lot of dragonflies around this summer. No doubt the result of several wet years. I'm happy to have them around eating the mosquitos. They are amazing fliers and hunters.

Saturday, August 06, 2011

An article by Derrick Jensen in Orion magazine. I wasn't familiar with Orion but Candace Savage recommended it and it looks excellent. Even if you don't want to pay to subscribe, they publish a lot of content on line for free. If you're not familiar with Jensen, this is a mild introduction.